After failing to secure a plot of land for his reptilian pets, a snake charmer named Hakkul released a bunch of his wriggling companions — including several venomous cobras — inside a tax office in India's Uttar Pradesh state. According to the serpent tamer, he had been promised a plot to keep the reptiles, but the officials' ongoing demands for bribes forced him to play his hand.

Explained Hakkul, "I am a conservationist and have been seeking the government's help. Having waited patiently for so long, I had no option but to leave all my snakes in this office." Nobody was injured in this herpetological hand-off.